this morning, i have received birthday wishes from the following....
dierks bentley
wmzq
cold stone creamery
borders
gold's gym
lds mingle
palm beach tan
barnes & noble
jason aldean
jason mraz
dsw
why do i feel like my life just got summed up :)
Monday, August 27, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
happy birthday to ME!
so this is what 31 looks like? i am so completely okay with that.
thank you lara, for letting me pretend awhile longer;)
in fact, this is the best birthday in recent history, and i'm only an hour and 19 minutes in.
obviously the birthday festivities began early, and involved a strange combination of activities that wove themselves into a wonderfully perfect pattern.
there were no grand trips, no dramatic rebellions. and even though the weekend involved quite a bit of work, that was also a blessing (overtime is time and half, and that makes tara a very happy girl).
i had a chance to see my boyfriend in bourne ultimatum with lara and nick. anne and i enjoyed breakfast and the nanny diaries (HER birthday activity). aaron and cindy treated me to cheesecake factory and stardust.*
and to top it all off, the culminating event, the birthday bbq at lara and nick's.
i'm sure i won't express this adequately, but have you ever had the feeling of really connecting to a moment? your thoughts laser focus on only that experience, and that focus brings a sense of wonder, awe, and most importantly, gratitude. i think it's what they (the great inimitable they) call joy.
i find that in general i am a happy person, but joy is so much more than happiness, and so much harder to grab hold of.
this weekend was filled with joy.
this is what 'joy' looks like
special thanks go to lara and nick for their continued love and patience (and attempts at domesticity on my behalf), aaron** and cindy who are perhaps the unlikeliest of friends, yet among the most cherished, and anniebean, my self-portrait soul sister.
and to the rest of you kooky kids, thank you for helping me celebrate, and for all that you contribute, on a daily basis, to my life!
the rest of the pics are here...
* thought ultimatum was much better than supremacy, not quite as good as identity. nanny diaries was exactly what i expected--cute, but not outstanding. stardust, was my favorite of the weekend, and a definite 'to own'.
**aaron--one night, i'm coming over, and we're going to take self-portraits all night long. this needs to happen sooner rather than later, fyi.
thank you lara, for letting me pretend awhile longer;)in fact, this is the best birthday in recent history, and i'm only an hour and 19 minutes in.
obviously the birthday festivities began early, and involved a strange combination of activities that wove themselves into a wonderfully perfect pattern.
there were no grand trips, no dramatic rebellions. and even though the weekend involved quite a bit of work, that was also a blessing (overtime is time and half, and that makes tara a very happy girl).i had a chance to see my boyfriend in bourne ultimatum with lara and nick. anne and i enjoyed breakfast and the nanny diaries (HER birthday activity). aaron and cindy treated me to cheesecake factory and stardust.*
and to top it all off, the culminating event, the birthday bbq at lara and nick's.
i'm sure i won't express this adequately, but have you ever had the feeling of really connecting to a moment? your thoughts laser focus on only that experience, and that focus brings a sense of wonder, awe, and most importantly, gratitude. i think it's what they (the great inimitable they) call joy.i find that in general i am a happy person, but joy is so much more than happiness, and so much harder to grab hold of.
this weekend was filled with joy.
this is what 'joy' looks likespecial thanks go to lara and nick for their continued love and patience (and attempts at domesticity on my behalf), aaron** and cindy who are perhaps the unlikeliest of friends, yet among the most cherished, and anniebean, my self-portrait soul sister.
and to the rest of you kooky kids, thank you for helping me celebrate, and for all that you contribute, on a daily basis, to my life!
the rest of the pics are here...
* thought ultimatum was much better than supremacy, not quite as good as identity. nanny diaries was exactly what i expected--cute, but not outstanding. stardust, was my favorite of the weekend, and a definite 'to own'.
**aaron--one night, i'm coming over, and we're going to take self-portraits all night long. this needs to happen sooner rather than later, fyi.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
reappearances
i find it fascinating how life seems to operate in cycles. at the moment, aside from being in a sick cycle, i find that now seems to be a time for reappearances.
as of late, several people have popped back in my life unexpectedly. in almost every case the person is someone who seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth for no good reason--or none that i was aware of. but a few of the houdinis are men i've interacted with online who, at the time, decided to pursue other girls. these reappearances are usually clues that things didn't work out.
the strangest and most unexpected of all however, is a guy i knew/met about 12 years ago. back in the day, this whole online world wasn't exactly what it is now. but there was some sort of system--i'm not exactly sure how it was setup--between colleges, that would allow you to interact via chat and im, before chat and im really truly existed. actually, it's funny to think that i have technically been online dating for about 13 years! at any rate, i struck up a friendship with a boy in one of those chat rooms, (aaron, you'll love this) who's interest was peaked by my screen name: raistlin. for those not in the know, raistlin is the name of a pseudo-bad male wizard character in the dragonlance chronicles (letting my inner nerd shine through, here). it was an odd choice of screen name for an 18 year old girl, and perhaps that is what drew david to me in the first place. we had similar interests and passions, and though he was quite a bit older than i (i was 18, he was 21--LOL), there was a connection.
after three or four months of online and phone interaction, he wanted to meet. so, he took the train from new jersey (we were poor college kids with limited means of transportation) to spend new year's with me.
it became clear very quickly that he was interested in romance. in fact, it's the only time anyone's written a song for me (cliche, i know, but i remember it being pretty good). unfortunately though, i didn't return thosemfeelings. i didn't know how to express that without hurting his feelings, so i imagine he probably thought me a very confused girl.
being new year's, i knew that he would see the midnight hour as an "opportunity for clarity", shall we say. so, to avoid that, i concocted some crazy stories and plans, all of which fell through, leaving us in the car, driving, at the fated hour. no opportunity for kissing there.
i don't regret much in my life, but the way i behaved with and to him was something i have always been ashamed of. yes, i was young and i was stupid. but he had made an effort, invested both time and money, and instead of just saying 'i'm grateful for your friendship, but not interested in anything else,' i was aloof, cold, and in some cases just plain mean.
i have thought about him a lot--a lot more than one usually thinks about a brief encounter over a decade past, so when i recently logged into my myspace, i was absolutely shocked to see an email from him. ironically, the subject line said: i promise, you don't remember me
little does he know how often he has been thought of. there was nothing critical in his message, and i'm sure an apology 12 years after the fact is neither something he was seeking or needs, but i find that i am grateful to have the opportunity to give it nonetheless. it isn't often we get a second chance to do the right thing.
as of late, several people have popped back in my life unexpectedly. in almost every case the person is someone who seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth for no good reason--or none that i was aware of. but a few of the houdinis are men i've interacted with online who, at the time, decided to pursue other girls. these reappearances are usually clues that things didn't work out.
the strangest and most unexpected of all however, is a guy i knew/met about 12 years ago. back in the day, this whole online world wasn't exactly what it is now. but there was some sort of system--i'm not exactly sure how it was setup--between colleges, that would allow you to interact via chat and im, before chat and im really truly existed. actually, it's funny to think that i have technically been online dating for about 13 years! at any rate, i struck up a friendship with a boy in one of those chat rooms, (aaron, you'll love this) who's interest was peaked by my screen name: raistlin. for those not in the know, raistlin is the name of a pseudo-bad male wizard character in the dragonlance chronicles (letting my inner nerd shine through, here). it was an odd choice of screen name for an 18 year old girl, and perhaps that is what drew david to me in the first place. we had similar interests and passions, and though he was quite a bit older than i (i was 18, he was 21--LOL), there was a connection.
after three or four months of online and phone interaction, he wanted to meet. so, he took the train from new jersey (we were poor college kids with limited means of transportation) to spend new year's with me.
it became clear very quickly that he was interested in romance. in fact, it's the only time anyone's written a song for me (cliche, i know, but i remember it being pretty good). unfortunately though, i didn't return thosemfeelings. i didn't know how to express that without hurting his feelings, so i imagine he probably thought me a very confused girl.
being new year's, i knew that he would see the midnight hour as an "opportunity for clarity", shall we say. so, to avoid that, i concocted some crazy stories and plans, all of which fell through, leaving us in the car, driving, at the fated hour. no opportunity for kissing there.
i don't regret much in my life, but the way i behaved with and to him was something i have always been ashamed of. yes, i was young and i was stupid. but he had made an effort, invested both time and money, and instead of just saying 'i'm grateful for your friendship, but not interested in anything else,' i was aloof, cold, and in some cases just plain mean.
i have thought about him a lot--a lot more than one usually thinks about a brief encounter over a decade past, so when i recently logged into my myspace, i was absolutely shocked to see an email from him. ironically, the subject line said: i promise, you don't remember me
little does he know how often he has been thought of. there was nothing critical in his message, and i'm sure an apology 12 years after the fact is neither something he was seeking or needs, but i find that i am grateful to have the opportunity to give it nonetheless. it isn't often we get a second chance to do the right thing.
more random fun
i am still sick! it's been a week! it's time for this to be over! enough exclamations points?! i'm back at work, but only because i have to be. really i just want to curl up and die.
but instead, i took a quiz.
See What You're Made Of - Visit The Official Site
but instead, i took a quiz.
See What You're Made Of - Visit The Official Site
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